Northern New Years

Happy New Years to everyone!!! I rang in the New Year in Val d’Or (northern Quebec) with 100 of our crew, as we were scattered across northern Ontario in preparation for New Years days’ schedule. We were lucky enough to be invited (by the hotel) to crash their annual New Years Eve bash – which consisted mostly of local folk over the age of 50. Both groups were able to showcase their dance styles fairly well, and occasionally meshed the two: we like to call it VAN d’Or style. It was a great way to let loose, not to mention fabulous entertainment for the locals.

I had mentioned to some of my co-workers that I completely forgot that we were heading into 2010 – because we say it so much, it kinda felt like we were already there! Anyhow – here we are. The very futuristic sounding 2010 – 42 days left until the flame arrives at BC Place. Crazy.

So back to the relay.

Since my last blog, we began to travel away from Ottawa piloting to Kingston, and then on to Oshawa. I had to slowly deal with being away from home again. It’s extremely hard to make the decision on whether to go home and really immerse yourself in home comforts, or to remain in the “relay lifestyle” to avoid the “leaving home again” sadness. In choosing to indulge in my home comforts, I had to slowly get back into relay life. No tears, just sadness and a wish: that I cold shrink everyone down into small little people and pack them in my bag to bring with me. Is that too much to ask?

So remember those embarrassing moments I touched upon in my last entry? Well this one hurt. Let me set the scene: before we start marking, we have this massive electronic scrolling sign that we mount on our vehicle (indicating that we stop frequently). It’s quite cumbersome and heavy. So we started our marking day in Whitchurch-Stouffville that morning. It was beautiful with everything covered from the continuing snowfall, the sun just cresting over the horizon (so still a bit dark), and I was actually thinking how lucky I was to see so many of these sunrises. With a soft grin on my face, I began to get the sign out of the trunk, being sure to use both hands because I didn’t want to drop it. No worries there – because as I turned to walk around the vehicle I broke the signs’ fall as my feet were quickly removed from underneath me and my elbows and rear really cushioned my landing. I went totally ass over tea kettle. The sign was fine – I was not. Phil got to witness the whole thing and quickly began laughing (as I’m sure it did look funny). I started to laugh pretty quickly too. Phil actually stopped for a second and apologized for laughing – I yelled; “keep laughing, cause then I won’t cry!!!”. My left backside is still a bit embarrassed.

Speaking of “moments”, I think we’ve all come to realize that anything can and will happen on the relay. Specifically relating to torchbearers, they seem to be slowed down by many things. Seeing as our schedule is down to the minute, we have to overcome those obstructions to remain on time. The most common obstacle is people, obviously, wanting to get close to take a picture or get a better look. We often hear our command car over our radio giving directions as to how to overcome these different obstacles. It’s usually “ask them to move”. Now, relay crew who were in range to hear our radio transmission while we were in Bowmanville ON, but not physically with the convoy were perplexed to hear our command utter, “we need the elephant to move, can we do that?” I’m sure everyone had a bit of a chuckle over that one.

So after a few days in the Greater Toronto Area, we got to celebrate Christmas!!! Yes, our whole crew holidayed in London with two full days off!!! It was interesting though, while I was in a mall I ran into one of my co-workers who admitted that he wasn’t doing any shopping he just needed to feel like it was Christmas. So, he thought by watching other people go about their holiday bustle, it would help sink in the fact Christmas was actually going to happen. I later found out that he was not the only one doing this. Makes sense I guess. We all watch very little television, have no time to shop, and aren’t attending any Christmas parties, so really are not exposed to the “Christmas lead-up” to get us hyped.

Of course walking into our RON office (where we get all our hotel keys and other pertinent information) was a great reminder of holiday! Decorated and vibrant and full of packages for crew members – mostly from friends and family. What got me was the massive amount of gifts from people we didn’t know; like communities we’d gone through and even those we have yet to visit. One of our shuttle drivers walked into the office with a massive box full of individually wrapped baked goods (about 300 or so). The shuttle driver said that this lady just showed up to one of the collection points (where we pick up torchbearers) and handed her this box and said, “from our family to your relay family”. She is a foster mom of 6. Wow.

Of course our team had planned a bunch of activities and such to keep us busy, but I decided to forgo most as I had the privilege of entertaining my own special guest, Ryan. After close to a full day of work, he drove 6.5 hours to London to spend two days with me. And he did not come empty handed – he brought treats!!! My mother baked enough goodies to feed an army (or relay team), which she sent with Ryan to deliver. I’ve been frugal with them so far...hoping to have some left for the next few weeks! Those who have been fortunate enough to sample my mothers work have been more then blown away….they must be tasting the love they were made with.

I was one of the few who were able to spend a part of Christmas with family as my Aunt and Uncle graciously welcomed Ryan and I into their home for Christmas dinner. I was able to enjoy a very relaxed and wonderful meal with my cousin and his wife, my grandmother, my uncle’s cousin, and, of course, my hosts. After some great hugs and well wishes, we returned to the hotel, where there were some fairly competitive games of, let me see if I get this right, Mario Cart on Wii. Ladies – I’m not sure if this is ingrained in our genetic make-up, but when it comes to video games it seems like we need to use our whole bodies to make things “work”. It was hilarious to watch 4 people playing: 3 guys and a girl – the girl needing at least 3 feet on either side of her to make her controller work!! I’m guilty as well - and even worse, I have to make sound effects to boot…

With the holidays comes relaxation, and apparently with relaxation your body thinks it’s a good time to get sick. This happens to me every year. 6am boxing day morning I took up residence on the bathroom floor until 11am. Ryan wouldn’t take no for an answer as he made a little bed next to me, making sure not to touch me because it made me want to vomit. That’s love ladies!!!!

So now, still a recovering sickie, we’re doing some of our biggest drives through North Western Ontario and into Winnipeg. I have to say, it’s quite beautiful, but you would need to be VERY into the outdoors to live here. Towns are very small – everyone knows each other; I can see how that’s appealing (as a small town girl). I would still need one REALLY great funky restaurant to make the move here though!!!

My next blog will be from the Prairies!! It’s my first time venturing through Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta….really looking forward to it!!!!